Railway sleeping car room arrangement



March 20, 1951 M. WATTER RAILWAY SLEEPING CAR ROOM ARRANGEMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 5, 1946 i lcri INVENTOR Michael Waiter 4 ATTORNEY March 20, 1951 M. WATTER RAILWAY SLEEPING c R ROOM ARRANGEMENT Filed Feb. 5, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT OR Michael Waiter ATTORNEY patented Mar. 20, 1951 OFFICE RAILWAY SLEEPING CAR ROOM ARRANGEMENT Michael Watter, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to The Budd Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application February 5, 1946, Serial No. 645,632

4 Claims. 1

The invention relates to railway cars, and particularly to sleeping cars. It is especially applicable to that type of sleeping cars disclosed in pending application Serial No. 583,259 filed March 17, 1945 in which a series of individual enclosed rooms are arranged on opposite sides of the center aisle .of the car and furnished with an adjustable and collapsible seat, a folding bed, a toilet and wash basin, a wardrobe and other devices for the comfort and convenience of the room occupants.

It is an object of the invention to provide a room of this class which still further enhances the comfort and convenience of the occupant,

insures greater privacy, and otherwise makes it more desirable than such rooms as heretofore provided, thereby increasing the saleability of the accommodation and thus adding to the revenues of the railroads providing such improved accommodations.

This and other and further objects and the manner in which they are attained will become evident from the following detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional plan View of a portion of a railway car embodying the invention, the section being taken approximately along the line l--l of Figs. 2 and 3;

Fig. 2- is a longitudinal vertical sectional view, on a somewhat reduced scale, the section being taken substantially along the line 22 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a similar view taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

In the embodiment of the invention selected for illustration the car In having side walls H and I2, a roof [3 and a'floor M is shown provided, see Fig. 1, with two longitudinal series of rooms, one series arranged between each of the car side walls II and I2 and the respective adjacent wall l5 of the central longitudinally extending aisle I 6. v

In the drawings, Fig. 1, one room at each side of the central aisle is shown for its full length, together with portions of the adjoining rooms. The full length room at the top and the right hand adjoining room are shown made up as sitting rooms and the left hand adjoining room as a bedroom, while the full length room at the bottom is shown made up as a bedroom and the left and right hand adjoining rooms as sitting rooms.

As in the above-referred to pending application each room is a separate built-in compartment to insure privacy and each is provided with the usual conveniences. The transverse walls I! extendingbetween the aisle walls 15 and the adjacent car side walls II and I2 and separating the rooms from adjoining rooms are made relatively thin as compared with the over-all aisle wall thickness, which latter includes the thickness of such accessories as a folding wash basin l8, medicine cabinet I9 and a wardrobe 2 3, these thin transverse walls insuring a maximum number of rooms in a car of given length.

Each room is provided with a doorway and door 2! communicating with the aisle Hi, this door being shown as a sliding door and being preferably arranged adjacent one end of the room, to insure greater privacy in the room, when it is made up as a sitting room, with the door open or partially open, and for other reasons as will appear later on.

Each room is provided with an adjustable and collapsible chair 22 including seat and seat back facing longitudinally and disposed adjacent the end of the room remote from the doorway opening, this chair extending transversely substantially the entire width of the room, and comfortably seating two people. A folding made-up fixed-length bed 23 pivoted at 24, is also provided in each room, said bed occupying a stowed position, extending vertically along the transverse wall of the room behind the chair 22, and when extended to use position occupying a horizontal position some distance above the floor H, see Fig. 2. When the bed is in this position the chair I8 is stowed in collapsed condition under it.

The bed and chair may be readily moved from the stowed to the use position, either by the occupant of the room or the porter and any usual means may be provided for securing them in either of these positions.

The bed 23, see Figs. 1 and 2, is of a length to extend substantially from one thin transverse wall I! to the opposite such wall of the room, and for most of its length, it is of a transverse width closely approaching the width of the room. An enclosed hopper 24, is arranged, as shown, in the corner of the room transversely opposite the corner having the doorway and door 2|. When the bed is in horizontal use position, it overlaps the hopper.

In rooms of this class as heretofore provided, insuflicient space was left between the aisle wall and the bed, when the aisle door was closed, for the occupant to stand while moving the bed to According to my invention, the-curtain canbe' entirely dispensed with and real privacy afforded the occupant of the room in raising and lower-- ing the bed.

To this end, the bed is provided on its aisle side with an offset or cut-out portion 25, Fig. l, narrowing the width of the bed in that region and providing a standing space 25 between the.

bed and the aisle wallof a width ample to provide clearance'of'the body of the occupant standing in said space, for the movement of the bed from lowered to raised position or vice versa. Preferably, this oiTset 25 is of a length along the bed substantially equal to the width of the door and doorway 2! and is also preferably disposed atthe end or the bed opposite the doorway opzning when the bed is in use position.

The arrangement of the offset in the bed at the end opposite i-'.s hinged end, and the location of the hopper 24 at this end of the room also has the advantage that the bed will not have to be raised as high as was necessary with prior arrangements to gain access to the hopper. In Fig. 2 the bed is shown in dot-and-dash lines in such partially raised position where it may be suitably locked.

The rooms are provided with other conveniences and appurtenances; among which are the baggage racks 27, Fig. 3, the shelf 23 between the medicine cabinet. l9 and the wash basin I8, the night shelf 29', Fig. 2, and the mirror 35,, Fig. 1 all shown.

While the, invention has been illustrated in connection with a room having an endwise folding bed. it will be understood that certain features thereof may be equally applicable in connection with, rooms having transversely folding beds, and" it is intended in the following claims to cover such obvious variants of the specific-form shown as fall within the. terminology of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a railway sleeping car, a: room defined by longitudinally extending car side and aisle walls and spaced transverse walls interconnecting said car side and aisle walls, a rigid fixed-length bed foldable to extend lengthwise vertically adjacent one of said transverse walls in storedposition and adapted to be lowered to extend horizontally some distance above the floor, when in use position and substantially from transverse wall to transverse wall of the room, an aisle entrance doorway and door adjacent the other of said transverse walls, a hopper disposed adjacent the car side wall opposite said doorway, and overlapped by the bed when the latter is in use position, said' bed being of a width for most of its length closely approaching the width or" the room, but being provided with an offset portion on its aisle side at its end laterally opposite the doorway in use position, providing standing space for the occupant between the offset portion of the bed and the door closing said doorway and permitting the lowering or' raising of the. bed past the occupant standing in said space and with the door closed.

2. In a railway sleeping car, a room defined by longitudinally extending car side and aisle walls and spaced transverse walls interconnecting said car side and aisle walls, a rigid fixed-length bed movable between a raised storage position fl'anking' one. of said walls and a lowered horizontal use position some distance above the floor of the room, a doorway normally closed by a door in the aisle wall and rendering. the room accessible from the aisle, said bed when in use position extending lengthwise from transverse wall. to.- transverse wall of the room and being of a width for most of its length taking up, with accessories, such as a folding wash basin and/or. a wardrobe disposed adjacent the aisle wall, substantially the full transverse width between the car side wall and the aisle, the bed being formed with an offset portion on its aisle side of a length equal at. least torthe width of said aisle'door. and disposed for the most part longitudinally in a space where the aisle wall is relatively thin and free from said aisle wall accessories, thereby providing standing room for an occupant betweenthe ofiset portion of the bed and the relatively thin portion of the aisle wall transversely opposite'said' ofiset and afford ing ampleroom to permit the lowering or raising of the bed past the occupant. while standing in said standing. room.

3. In a railway sleeping carhaving a center aisle and a roomarranged between said center aisle and a side-wall of the car, said room being defined by longitudinally extending car side and aizle walls and. spaced trans-verse walls interconnecting said car side and aisle walls, relatively thick accessories, such as a folding. wash basin and/or a wardrobe, disposed adjacent the aisle wall and materially increasing the overall thickness ofithe' aisle wall in the longitudinal regions where they are disposed. but leaving a space extending lengthwiseof said aisle wall unencumbered by such accessoriesandin which the aisle wall is relatively thin as compared with the overall thickness of thewall in the region of' said accessories, adoorway and door in the aislewall at said space rendering the roomaccessiblefrom theuaisle; a rigidfixed length bed when in use position extending lengthwise substantially from; transverse wall to transverse wall of the room and. being movable between a raised storage position fianking one of said walls and a lowered horizontal use position some distance above the-floor ofthe room, the bed being of a width for most of its lengthformingwith the overall thickness of said. wall in the region of said accessories,anoveral-ltransverse dimension' extending substantially from the aisle to the car sidewalLbut. being. formed in the-region of the doorway witlr anoffset portionnarrowing the'width of the-bediin this region, and providing standing room. for. an". occupant between the oifset portion of the bed and the relatively thinv aisle "wall portion opposite it which permits the lowering and raising of the bed past the occupant whilestanding in said standing. room: with the door in; the aislev wall closed.

4. In a' railway sleepingcar, a: room of greater length than. width. and defined by spaced walls lengthwiseof therroom' interconnected by spaced walls transversely: of the roomto'gether enclosing aysubstantia'lly rectangular. floor'area,v relatively thick accessories, such as a wardrobe or the. like, disposed; adjacent one. of said lengthwise walls and materially increasing the overall thickness of said wall in the regions where said accessories are disposed, but leaving a length of said wall unencumbered by such accessories and in which the wall is relatively thin as compared with its overall thickness in the regions of said accessories, a rigid fixed-length bed when in horizontal use position extending substantially from transverse wall to transverse wall of the room and being movable between a raised storage position flanking one of said walls other than said one wall and a lowered horizontal use position some distance above the floor of the room, the bed for most of its length being of a width taking up, with the thickness of said accessories, substantially the entire width of the room in the region of said accessories, and being formed with an offset portion on the side thereof adjoining said one wall, which is of less width than the main body of the bed and forms a space, in the region of said relatively thin length of said one wall, of a length and width affording standing 6 room for an occupant between the ofiset portion of the bed and the relatively thin length of said one wall opposite said offset portion, said standing room affording ample space to permit the lowering or raising of the bed past the occupant while standing in said standing room.

MICHAEL WATIER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 181,616 Allen Aug. 29, 1876 2,143,827 Demarest Jan. 10, 1939 2,147,011 Crawford Feb. 14, 1939 2,323,069 McKinnon June 29, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country 7 Date 374,713 France Apr. 24, 1907 

